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"Gavin. Gaaavin. Gaaaaviiiin."
Finally, Gavin looked up from his beer with a frown, searching with some consternation the source of the drunken voice that was calling him. The bar was as crowded as it could be expected for a Thursday night, people chatting and laughing loudly over drinks. The music was a nice thrum in the background, not too low that it wasn't noticeable but not loud enough that people had to shout to be heard.
It was a nice place, Gavin had to admit, even for an office bonding event. The precinct had these sort of gatherings every so often. He even attended, sometimes, when Tina blackmailed him into it, but certainly not since a certain android had become his partner.
The RK900, Nines as he called himself, may be a state of the art android, but he was a pain in the ass for Gavin. Always serious, too formal, he watched Gavin with his piercing blue eyes as if disapproving of everything the human did.
And why wouldn't he? He was certainly taller, stronger, smarter than Gavin, solving cases with an ease the man could never hope to match and then looking at him with that superior air that made Gavin want to punch him in his handsome, perfect face.
Gavin couldn’t stand him, avoided him as much as possible, and so perhaps his karma was the reason the android in question was crossing the room in unusually unsteady feet, eyes trained into him.
“What the fuck--” Gavin began, blinking when he caught a better sight of the android.
Not only did Nines seem uncertain on his feet, but a light blue flush colored his usually pale and stoic face, and the sight was distracting enough that Gavin’s voice died on his throat. As if in a trance, he watched Nines walk closer and closer to the table he was sharing with Tina, enchanted by the way the android seemed so fixated on him, drinking him in, almost as if--
“Toaster--” he began again, but it was too late. Two strong arms curled around his neck, pulling him into a solid chest in a firm hug.
“Gavin,” Nines sighed in his ear, content as if he had just fulfilled his mission in life.
Gavin felt his cheeks burning, too confused to react except for the flare of heat that washed over him, because Nines’ embrace was warm, and his voice deep, and this close he could pick up a trace of a wooden smell on the android’s clothes.
In Gavin’s opinion, androids had no business smelling of anything, much less of something nice and masculine that made Gavin’s brain short circuit.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, tincan?” he managed to say --not splutter, thank you very much-- trying to subdue his heart that suddenly wanted to beat out of his chest at the closeness.
“Oh shit,” he heard, distantly, from somewhere to his right, and it gave Gavin enough presence of mind to struggle a little, pushing against Nines’ broad chest --he adamantly did not think about the defined muscles he felt under the android’s black shirt, and why was the fabric of the shirt so thin for fucks’ sake? -- until, reluctantly, Nines gave him space to breathe.
Bottom lip slightly protruding in a pout that Gavin did not find cute, Nines rearranged them until Gavin’s back was plastered to his front, head buried in the man’s neck.
Gavin squeaked in surprise, and glared to the side at Tina who already had her phone out, filming while cackling like mad.
Luckily, before Gavin could say something he would regret, Connor materialized beside them, LED swirling amber in agitation.
“Nines!” he scolded, “Let the detective go this instant!”
“No,” Nines answered, hands splaying possessively over Gavin’s stomach. “Gavin feels very nice,” he loudly declared as he rubbed his face against Gavin’s cheek like a cat.
Some of their colleagues turned to look at them with smiles on their faces, but fortunately, no one said a word. It was a good thing, as Gavin didn’t really know how to react to the embrace, which was actually quite nice except for the fact that it had come out of fucking nowhere.
And you hate Nines , his mind provided as an afterthought. There was that as well.
“Oh god, detective, I’m so sorry,” Connor babbled. “We were drinking that new cocktail for androids that simulates alcohol intake and Nines was adamant it didn’t affect him.”
“It didn’t,” Nines assured Gavin. He was still rubbing his cheek against Gavin’s stubble, and his hands had managed to hike Gavin’s shirt enough that he felt the brush of skin against skin, and oh god --
“Nope,” Gavin said, placing his own hands over Nines’ to still them. “We’re not there yet,” he informed the android, using the same tone of voice his mother used whenever she needed to put the fear of god in him. It was one thing to deal with the unexpected effect Nines’ proximity had on him and another very different if the android was doing it because he was drunk.
Nines frowned at him, but instead of menacing as usual he looked so heartbreakingly pitiful that Gavin almost laughed. Of course this was his fucking life: it figured that the android partner he had an antagonistic relationship with would get drunk for the first time and latch to him for no goddamn reason.
Well , that little corner of his mind that never shut up piped up, it’s not like he’s repulsive of anything.
Gavin rolled his eyes at himself, because that was the corner of his mind that always came up with the worst ideas, and his drunk android coworker draped over his back was a particular disastrous fodder for any bad ideas that Gavin’s mind might come up with.
“How much did you drink?” he questioned Nines instead, craning his head back to look him in the eye.
He ignored the way their height difference made his head land squarely in the android’s shoulder. He also ignored the realization of how comfortable the embrace was, how strangely natural it felt, because if he thought about it for too long he ran the risk of becoming crazy.
“Not much,” Nines answered eagerly, as if he was pleased that Gavin was talking to him at all.
Gavin raised an eyebrow. “Connor?”
“He had three glasses,” Connor provided dutifully, the snitch, in the exact same tone Elijah had used plenty of times to rat him out. For a moment, and for the first time, he felt a strong kinship with Nines for being saddled with such a goody two-shoes of a brother.
“That means nothing to me,” Gavin realized. “Will he be alright?”
“Yes, the cocktails are only made to simulate the effects of alcohol in humans, such as a loss of inhibitions and a little dizziness, not the secondary effects,” Connor recited. “He could wash the chemicals out of his system and return to normal this second if he so wished.”
Gavin peered at Nines, whose face, set in a stubborn frown, made abundantly clear his opinion on that.
“Figures,” Gavin sighed inwardly, and Nines beamed as if he had actually done something right. In his stoic face, the expression looked a bit ridiculous and out of place, like CyberLife had not considered he might ever need to smile, and the awkwardness made some hidden instinct kick in within Gavin.
No , he told himself. No, no, no no no. Bad idea. Bad!
Because he recognized it as the same impulse that made him adopt three cats and pick up strays whenever it was kitten season.
“Okay, let's bring you somewhere you don’t make a spectacle of yourself,” he said, and cursed silently. Still, it was obvious Connor was drunk as well, although not as much as Nines, and it wasn’t like someone else was going to sweep in and care for Nines.
(Gavin would not trust anyone that offered to take care of Nines, and the realization did not set well with him. So much for apparently disliking the android.)
Whatever , he thought. It was not the first time Gavin had taken care of a drunk friend-- colleague-- whatever, and he did feel a bit of empathy for him. No one deserved their first time being drunk to be thrown in fucking corner of a dirty bar, ignored by everyone while the world felt out of control. He would know.
“I don’t want to,” Nines complained, petulant, holding Gavin closer to him still, and yeah, that had to stop because while Gavin’s intentions were pure, he was not made of marble. There was so much his body could ignore, and a crotch insistently pressing against his ass wasn’t one of those things.
“No?” he asked, voice deceptively light. “Well, I need a bit of fresh air, so suit yourself and stay here if you want.”
That seemed to throw Nines off enough that Gavin could slip from between his arms. The android stared at his empty hands for a couple of seconds, consternated, before turning gorgeous blue eyes pleadingly towards Gavin.
Gavin bit the inside of his cheek, amused despite his best efforts.
“You can join me if you promise to behave,” he added, and the was sure he was going to hell because Nines’ whole face lit up, and the way the android shyly held onto the sleeve of his jacket --as if he had wanted to take Gavin’s hand but had not dared to in the end-- was the most adorable thing he had ever witnessed in his life.
God, he was fucked.
He didn’t need a crush on a colleague. That’s why he didn’t socialize with people from work in the first place.
“Detective, I don’t think--” Connor began, and Gavin startled. He had been so caught up in Nines that he had forgotten they had public.
“It’s fine, Connor,” Tina intervened. Her eyes were bright with mischief, and Gavin gave her The Look. Tina was pretty much vibrating in her seat, but when she bit her lip Gavin knew she would behave. Mostly. “Gavin has a thing for taking in strays.”
Gavin flushed. The traitor.
“But…”
“Connor,” and this was Hank. “I’m sure we can trust Gavin to care for Nines for a little while,” he sent a measuring look towards Gavin, thoughtful, and Gavin cursed this approval seeking thing he had going on, because after those words he would have taken care of Nines even if he hadn’t already decided he’d do it.
“Fuck you, I don’t take orders from you,” he spat towards Hank anyway, like a kitten that’s hissing at a hand that wants to pet it, even when he knew he must look like an idiot glaring with a tall killing-machine android gently clinging to his sleeve.
Herding Nines to the second floor was easier than he thought. The android seemed content to go wherever Gavin was going, and as they climbed the stairs and they easily fell into step, Gavin realized how often they did this at work as well.
The second floor was a terrace, with a balcony all over one end and the bar on the other. It was way less crowded, the tables full with couples or small groups talking quietly. The lights were dimmed here, the live music coming from a woman singing beside a piano in the corner, and Gavin thought that perhaps he had misstepped by bringing Nines to a place that clearly was meant to be romantic.
Still, the fresh air of the night felt good. It was warm, for it was summer, and the relief Gavin felt at the relative silence was almost palpable. He had never been good with loud or crowded places. Too much.
For something to do, he leaned against the balcony and plucked a cigarette out of its box, placing it between his lips unlit.
“I thought you were trying to quit,” Nines commented, his voice so normal that Gavin wondered if he had finally decided to sober up. His question was answered when the android stepped entirely too close to Gavin, shoulders flushed together.
“I am,” Gavin shrugged. “I won’t light it. But this relaxes me. The habit is too strong, I guess.”
A couple of seconds passed in silence, and then, “I am sorry that I stress you out,” Nines said, looking miserable, and fuck. It was like kicking a puppy.
“You think too highly of yourself,” Gavin deflected, torn between hiding and being honest. In a whim, he decided to take the risk. If this went south, he would have plenty of blackmail on Nines after all. “I was about to leave anyway. I don’t do well with too much stimulation. ”
Nines LED blinked red as he processed this information.
“Is that why you never attend these events?”
“Part of it,” Gavin accepted, reaching his quota for revealing things about himself. “And you? Is being drunk fun?”
Nines nodded, enthusiastic once more. “I find I enjoy the experience.”
“Oh?”
“It stops me from overthinking,” Nines admitted. “I find it...freeing.”
There were plenty of replies on Gavin’s tongue, each meaner than the last, but he swallowed them all. There was something soft in Nines tonight, and Gavin had enough emotional intelligence not to intentionally aim at that vulnerability Nines was entrusting to him.
Instead, they talked.
They had never really talked, not like this. Fought, yes. But as the night went on and they talked about everything and nothing, Gavin realized with some surprise that he enjoyed Nines’ company. When the android was not glaring disapprovingly at him, he was actually charming in a dorky kind of way. He listened to Gavin with as much attention as he dedicated to their cases, and when Gavin actually listened, he noticed Nines was actually very earnest, if awkward, and patient and kind.
It was wild, but the time flew by as they talked, not running out of topics once. Nines was handsy, touching Gavin whenever the opportunity presented itself, and Gavin was not too dumb to realize when he was being flirted with.
Which was crazy, because he wanted to flirt back.
When the music changed to a ballad and Nines offered his hand with a small bow, Gavin felt his face burst into flames anew.
“I don’t know if--” he began, because it was honestly a terrible idea. The night had taken a turn to the unexpected, but Gavin forcefully reminded himself that Nines was drunk. He had had plenty of drunken conversations in his life that meant nothing the next morning. It would be smart to not allow himself to be compromised any further.
“I can teach you to dance, if you’re bad at it,” Nines said, eyes twinkling.
“I’m a better dancer than you’ll ever be, toaster,” Gavin answered, because this was easy. He knew banter, it was familiar.
He was acutely aware he was being played, but the challenge was an excuse, and perhaps his foolish heart was already too compromised. It would not be the first time.
It turned out Nines was bluffing and did not, in fact, know how to dance. Or perhaps he did, but his personality was not suited for it, even drunk.
Gavin chuckled in his arms, first trying to guide him and then verbally instructing him when that didn’t work. Their dance was clumsy, and graceless, and also completely right. After they sorted their stepped on toes, they found a rhythm of their own, and it was surprising how easy it all was.
They ended up gently swaying to the music, and it was perhaps inevitable that the mood shifted when an old Sinatra song played, and when they noticed they were already tangled with each other, too close, too close, looking into each other’s eyes.
Nines couldn’t keep his hands still, trailing paths of fire over Gavin’s skin even above the clothes. Things were getting out of control too fast, but Nines was incredibly attractive, and Gavin was only human. However, he did his best to squirm out of reach from Nines’ greedy eyes and hands, because he might be a dick but he wasn’t going to take advantage of him in his intoxicated state.
“Maybe you should flush the drink from your system,” Gavin said, quietly.
Nines stared at him as if confused, his arms still extended where he had been holding Gavin.
“I don’t want to,” he declared with an intensity that startled Gavin. “Otherwise I can never say the right thing to you. You never look at me like this.”
The song ended and a new one began, the singer announcing they were ready to close the bar soon. A lonely waiter walked through the tables to close the tabs of the few people that still remained. Gavin, however, noticed nothing. There was a roaring in his ears as his blood rushed fast through his veins, loud and unforgiving.
“I...what?” he asked, disconcerted. Surely, Nines wasn’t-- Nines was not---
“I always make you angry,” Nines explained simply. “But I...I want you to smile. I want you to smile at me. I want to talk to you like this all the time, to be allowed to touch you. I want…” he trailed off, eyes dark, and Gavin felt like lightning struck him. For a moment, he tightened his fists as the world shifted on its axis, breaking and rearranging itself once more until things finally made sense. “Gavin,” Nines breathed in that deep voice that made a wave of heat wash through the man, “may I kiss you?”
It took him a while, but Gavin nodded, dumbly.
Going by Nines’ handsy behaviour so far, Gavin expected possessive lips and demanding, searing kisses. He didn’t expect gentle hands cupping his face, thumbs softly caressing his cheeks. He didn’t expect Nines’ soft kiss, his controlled passion as he requested to deepen the kiss by running his tongue lightly over Gavin’s bottom lip.
Nines kissed him slowly, deeply, with an intense sort of greed Gavin had never felt directed at him before. It was like Nines was relishing every second of it, committing it to memory, savoring each messy swipe of tongue like a child enjoys each bite of a particularly desired treat.
Gavin didn’t expect to moan into it, to whine when Nines pulled away, to chase his lips as if he’d die if they ever parted.
“Was that okay?” Nines asked him in the end, the question vulnerable and tremulous between them, and Gavin felt himself trembling with desire because that had been the most sensual kiss he’d ever been a part of.
“You--” he swallowed. It was difficult to think because Nines was so close, lips kissing down Gavin’s neck, hands finally finding their way under his shirt. Arousal was thrumming just under Gavin’s flushed skin, stroked into a fire by Nines’ ministrations, and he wanted--god he wanted Nines so much.
And it would be so easy.
It would be so easy to drag Nines to some dark corner, sink to his knees and unzip his trousers. Nines would let him too, Gavin knew. God, how he wanted to.
But not like this.
Never like this.
Pulling away from Nines right then was probably the most difficult thing Gavin ever did. “I think we should better stop,” he said, proud that his voice sounded normal and gave nothing away of how wrecked he felt.
“Why?”
“You’re drunk.”
Nines frowned, obviously displeased by that answer.
“Gavin…”
“I’m not saying I’ve not enjoyed this. Tonight,” Gavin hurried to add before it became too much. “Just--tomorrow. If you still want me tomorrow, then...”
Nines’ eyes were intense as they analyzed Gavin, searching for the lie. Gavin forced himself to bear the scrutiny, and he didn’t know what it was that Nines found in his face because he gathered him close once again, although it was only to press a chaste peck against his red lips.
“I will always want you,” he mumbled with fervor, and Gavin prayed to whatever gods existed to let him keep this, because he didn’t think his heart could take it if Nines came to his senses.
Gavin did not know afterwards how he managed to call a taxi and send Nines home. He was methodical with his remaining tasks: check on Tina, confirm Nines made it home safe, let Connor and Hank know everything was okay.
Then, when at last he was home alone, he ran through his nightly routine in autopilot. He played with the cat, showered, brushed his teeth, changed into his pajamas. And then, once he was in bed, he spent the rest of the night trying to prepare his foolish heart for the heartbreak that would surely come in the morning.
Because whoever organized the outings in the precint was a sadist fuck, the next day was Friday.
The office was subdued. Although no one would dare show up drunk, it was obvious plenty of people were at least sleep deprived. Connor and Hank were sitting on their desks, pointedly avoiding having to look at each other, and Gavin would have gone straight to Tina for the gossip had he not felt his stomach was about to eat itself from the nerves.
Instead, he downed his third cup of coffee as he walked to his desk, trying to inject swagger into his step as if nothing life-changing had happened last night.
And perhaps it hadn’t, because when he sat down on his chair, Nines, who was already sitting on his own desk, didn’t look up.
He didn’t even say good morning.
Gavin gritted his teeth, swallowing against the ball of hurt and disappointment that rose on his throat. In all honesty he had expected nothing more, but that didn’t mean it didn’t fucking hurt. He breathed in and out slowly, clenching and unclenching a stim toy in his fist until he felt his heart calm down, until he felt enough presence of mind to go through the day.
That day was unbearably fucking long. It was a small mercy that they only had desk work that day, because Gavin didn’t think he could interact with Nines today. He needed the weekend to lick his wounds in private, and maybe on Monday he would actually be able to talk to the android.
Maybe he could even try for friends.
Gavin thought that maybe, when the hurt was gone, he might like that.
At six o’clock sharp, as those on desk duty prepared to go home and the shift changed, Nines disappeared. Tired, Gavin thought nothing of it other than perhaps the android was so embarrassed he didn’t even want to talk to him. He was gathering the last of his belongings when he saw Nines dash right in, eyes trained on Gavin.
It took the android less than a second to cross the room, and in view of all their coworkers, offer Gavin something he had clutched in his right hand.
A single red rose.
“I did some research and I understand this is the proper way to show romantic interest,” Nines explained. Although he was not as expressive as he had been while drunk, still Gavin could read the hopefulness in his blue eyes, the shyness that bled through the almost question in his words.
Gavin opened and closed his mouth, eyes going back and forth between the flower and Nines, breathless in his disbelief.
“...really?” he managed to say at last. He felt a headache coming on, brought on by the stress and the sleplessness and the fact that all their fucking colleagues were watching them right now. Because Nines had chosen to do this in the middle of the office. Gavin rubbed his eyes with one hand and vaguely gestured at the rest of the room. “Here?”
“I already asked Captain Fowler for permission,” Nines informed him with that expectant air of superiority Gavin had so often confused with arrogance.
Except.
Except it was not, Gavin realized. Nines was fucking waiting to be praised .
“ You better not let this interfere with your job, both of you!” Fowler yelled from inside his office, and Gavin bit down a groan. That was it. He felt his face burning and thought he might as well burst into flames right then and there, he had never been so embarrassed in his life.
“Did I misunderstand something again?” Nines asked, deflating, and fuck it. Fuck it all.
“I…” Gavin tried again. “You...”
“Jesus Christ, just kiss him already!” Hank yelled from the back of the room.
“Shut the fuck up!” Gavin growled at him, flipping him off. He sighed, and turning to Nines, he finally accepted the offered red rose. “Let’s, huh, discuss this thing over dinner?”
As if that had been a movie worthy declaration of love, around them, everyone cheered and clapped. A couple people wolf whistled. Money exchanged hands. Out of the corner of his eye, Gavin saw Tina with her phone out once again, and knew that the bribery he was going to have to do for her to hand over the footage was going to have to be very creative.
But right then, none of that mattered because Nines was smiling at him, beautiful and absolutely blinding. It was like looking at the fucking sun.
Ah, well.
Perhaps he was a sap.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Gavin said. This time, he took Nines hand because he damned wanted to, and he could , and he got to have this apparently.
Their colleagues kept on cheering them on as they left, and although Gavin’s face was burning, hand in hand, they ran out of the room.
Gavin couldn’t look up just yet, but as they dashed away, drunk with happiness, he laughed.